You have space on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so you confirm a three-night stay. Then you look more closely: the available space is in different pens on different nights. Meanwhile, a colleague has promised one of those pens to another owner over the telephone.
Cattery management software should help you see these conflicts before you agree a booking. The important detail is whether suitable accommodation is available throughout the stay, including the preparation needed between guests. This guide explains how to organise pen allocations, handle changes and assess TailPro’s boarding tools against the way your cattery works.
Make these checks before offering a pen
Use the same checklist for telephone, email and online enquiries:
- Confirm all arrival and collection dates and times.
- Identify the cats and their accommodation requirements.
- Check suitable space across the entire stay.
- Include any provisional holds that reserve availability.
- Exclude unavailable accommodation and allow for changeover.
- Record the agreed allocation before confirming it to the owner.
A deposit, enquiry or customer profile is not a substitute for an accommodation allocation. Decide which booking stages reserve space and make that distinction clear to everyone taking bookings.
Give each pen a clear identity
Use consistent names or numbers for your pens, chalets or rooms. If reception calls a unit “Garden 2” while care staff call it “the end pen”, make the connection explicit in your records.
Record the relevant accommodation type and restrictions. Keep units unavailable for maintenance or other operational reasons out of the space you offer customers.
TailPro’s boarding page describes a calendar linked to actual accommodation and an occupancy view. Its public examples are largely kennel-focused. Ask to see how your cattery’s pens, unit types and cat records would be configured before assuming the terminology and allocation process fit.
Count cats, customer bookings and occupied units separately. Two cats from one household do not automatically require two units, but neither does a shared owner account establish that one unit is suitable.
Check continuous availability, not just nightly totals
Illustrative allocation scenario — not a customer case study.
An owner requests arrival on Monday afternoon and collection on Thursday morning: three nights. For this example, two suitable pens have the following overnight availability:
| Pen | Monday night | Tuesday night | Wednesday night |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pen A | Available | Available | Reserved |
| Pen B | Reserved | Available | Available |
There is at least one free pen every night, but neither pen is free for the complete stay.
You cannot confirm a continuous allocation based only on the total spaces available. First check whether another suitable pen exists. If you are considering a planned move, assess whether it is appropriate and workable, including preparation and handover, before agreeing it. Do not let a software-generated total silently decide that arrangement.
This is a useful demonstration test: ask the provider to enter the request and show whether the system identifies the lack of one continuous allocation. Check what it blocks, what it warns about and what staff can override.
Separate a departure from a pen being ready
A cat’s scheduled collection time, actual departure and the pen’s readiness for another arrival are different events.
If collection is delayed, the pen remains occupied. Once the cat leaves, your team still needs to complete the required cleaning, preparation and checks. Keep the next booking consistent with what staff can actually deliver.
TailPro’s boarding material describes occupied, available and cleaning states. Its kennel page also describes configurable changeover periods. Confirm how these controls work in a cattery setup, including whether a timer, staff action or another event releases the space.
Do not assume an elapsed buffer proves the work is finished. Your handover process needs to establish that the accommodation is ready.
Use one booking record across every enquiry channel
Messages are useful for conversations. Problems arise when an accepted booking stays only in a message, a notebook or one person’s memory.
Agree that every accepted booking enters the same authoritative record before the space is offered again. Customers can still telephone; staff should check and update the same allocation information used for other bookings.
If you hold space while waiting for an owner’s response, record when that hold will be reviewed. Confirm how your chosen software represents provisional bookings and releases expired holds. These functions should be demonstrated rather than assumed.
Also test two people trying to reserve the final suitable pen at the same time. A calendar that displays availability and a system that prevents conflicting confirmations are not necessarily the same thing.
Recheck the allocation whenever a stay changes
An extension needs the same availability check as a new booking. An early collection may create a gap, but it does not make every later request suitable for that gap.
For a change, use this sequence:
- Find the original booking and clarify the revised request.
- Check every affected date, accommodation requirement and changeover.
- Agree a workable arrangement with the owner.
- Update the existing booking and allocation without leaving a duplicate.
- Review the charge, payment position and customer confirmation.
Keep financial adjustments distinct from accommodation changes. Deleting a night should not be taken to mean that a refund has been issued. Likewise, accepting extra payment does not resolve a pen conflict.
TailPro describes deposits, invoices and pet records connected to boarding stays. Test a changed stay from both the staff and owner perspectives so the resulting dates and balance are clear.
Explore TailPro’s boarding tools using your busiest allocation pattern as the example.
Check the allocation record at each handover
Review expected arrivals, actual occupants, departures and pens awaiting preparation. Resolve differences between the record and the cats physically on site.
If a cat moves to another unit, update the location and make sure staff can still find the correct individual care information. Give one person responsibility for resolving an unclear allocation instead of leaving several staff to make separate assumptions.
TailPro advertises pet profiles, arrival and departure checklists, and staff task assignments. These support information sharing; accurate entries and a consistent team routine remain essential.
For broader guidance on owner details and individual cat records, use our practical cattery booking guide.
Test five situations before switching your diary
Use demonstration records to test:
- A stay spanning dates with fragmented availability, as in the example above.
- Two requests competing for the last suitable pen.
- An extension overlapping another confirmed stay.
- A late collection affecting the next arrival.
- A pen made unavailable after future bookings already exist.
Ask how staff identify affected bookings and resolve the conflict in each case. Check permissions and overrides, not just the appearance of the calendar.
A small cattery may manage a well-maintained manual allocation chart. Software becomes more useful when several people accept bookings or changes require repeated cross-checking. Before moving live data, reconcile every future stay, allocation, deposit and balance against your existing records. Confirm import support and choose a clear changeover date.
Questions before choosing cattery management software
Can software guarantee there will be no double bookings?
No system should be treated as a guarantee against every setup error or missed update. Check the actual conflict controls and train staff to use them consistently.
Does TailPro support cat-specific pen allocation?
Its published boarding tools cover accommodation and pet records. Ask for a demonstration of your cattery’s unit types, multi-cat arrangements and full-stay allocation rules before deciding whether it fits.
Can I automate every changeover?
You may be able to schedule unavailable time, but physical preparation still needs to be completed and checked. Confirm the release behaviour in your chosen setup.
Which TailPro plan should I consider?
The ongoing Free plan has no monthly software subscription; online processing and applicable off-app fees remain. Business adds features including customer chat, outreach and unlimited staff. Review the current plans and fees and confirm the allocation features you require.
Start by testing one difficult stay
Recreate a booking that crosses a busy weekend or needs a date change. Check whether the team can see suitable accommodation throughout the stay and understand what to do if it does not fit.
Need to check your pen setup first? Talk to us about your cattery allocations.
